Having just bid adieu to spring break, I assume most of us have realized what a marathon our daily lives are as Princeton students. A weeklong breather with friends — whether that’s up in Vermont’s ski slopes, down in the Miami sun, or simply in your room back home — allows you to take some time out for yourself and bond with loved ones. Holidays, in many ways, serve the same purpose. Holidays are an opportunity for people to come together to share in a common joy, from the fourth of July, uniting millions of Americans through bonds of citizenship, to Christmas, bringing together our merry spirits.

Voter turnout across the United States has been criticized for years for being too low, and Princeton’s campus elections are no exception. This past winter for instance, despite USG’s aggressive Project 50 aiming to increase turnout to 50 percent, only 38 percent of undergraduates voted for positions like USG President and class senators.

In an April 9 email to the student body, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) announced finalized referenda that will be on the ballot in the upcoming spring elections. Voting will be open for two days on the Helios voting system, starting Monday, April 15 at noon.

A week and a half ago, Abby Clark ’21 and a friend entered her room to find a squirrel perched on the inside of their windowsill. With some help from a Residential College Advisor, Clark and her roommate lured the squirrel out of the room.

On Wednesday, April 10, The Daily Princetonian sat down with former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake for an interview. Flake — a member of the Republican party — is famous for his public and vocal criticism of President Donald Trump, culminating in a fiery 2017 speech on the Senate floor, in which he announced he would not seek re-election for a second term. Now, as a contributor for CBS News, he continues to denounce the current administration and many of its policies.

Hollywood blockbuster “Green Book” immediately sparked controversy following its Best Picture win at the 2019 Academy Awards. The film tracks a budding friendship between black musician Don Shirley, played by Mahershala Ali, and white Italian American driver Tony Lip, played by Viggo Mortensen. And though it is a heart-warming story good enough to win the Oscar, Don Shirley’s real-life family has levied accusations against the makers of the film, claiming that they were never consulted and that the relationship portrayed between Shirley and Lip is fictional.

Leaving the dining halls, you may notice white vans with the red Aramark logo pulling out of loading docks. One of the nation’s largest food service purveyors in a variety of institutions, Aramark maintains large contracts with state departments of corrections to provide food, commissary products, and facility management services. Paid on a per-meal basis, food providers like Aramark are incentivized to cut costs by reducing quantities and substituting ingredients for cheaper alternatives. Aramark in particular has found itself at the center of several scandals, with widespread reports of maggots in kitchens and sexual acts between Aramark employees and incarcerated people, leading Michigan to cancel its $145 million contract. Evidence of similar staff abuses in Ohio and sanitation violations in New Jersey have apparently not deterred the University from using its services.

The women’s tennis team (14–4, 3–0 Ivy League) is dominating the Ivy League on the road with an undefeated record they extended to 3–0 this past Sunday as they beat Harvard 4–3. Senior Nicole Kalhorn helped seal the win for the Tigers to just edge out Harvard.

On the University’s admission website, the first academic topic to explore is: “What does liberal arts mean?” In this section, the University argues that by exploring issues, ideas, and methods across the humanities, the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences, students will learn to read critically, write analytically, and think broadly. The University hopes its general education requirements will ensure that students take courses across many academic disciplines. I argue that these requirements are a one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how to create well-rounded learners.

This past weekend, both the men’s and women’s golf teams hosted events in New Jersey. The men’s team hosted several teams in its annual Princeton Invitational at Springdale Golf Club. While not winning the team or individual titles, Princeton still performed well, including a third-place finish by sophomore Jake Mayer at -8. Along with Columbia, the women’s team co-hosted a new tournament, called Match Madness, at Fox Hollow in Branchburg, N.J. The women’s team was narrowly defeated in the final round by the University of Delaware in a contest where four of the individual matches came down to the final hole.

The University Art Museum is currently featuring its first bilingual exhibit, “Miracles on the Border: Retablos of Mexican Migrants to the United States | Milagros en la frontera: Retablos de migrantes mexicanos a los Estados Unidos.” All titles, captions, descriptions, and online content related to the exhibit are offered in English and Spanish, thanks to the translation work of a University graduate student in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese.

Following her graduation at the University, Karen Richardson ’93 has dedicated her entire career as an administrator to promoting equity and diversity within higher education. Now, she will have the opportunity to continue that mission as the University’s chief admission officer.

I am a liberal. Although what it means to be a liberal is not clearly defined and sometimes comes with a negative connotation, I can reasonably say I am not conservative. My preferred news sources are The New York Times and NPR. If I’m feeling a little neutral, maybe I’ll visit Real Clear Politics, but that’s about it. Memes about Ben Shapiro frequently pop up on my Facebook feed, and — quite frankly — I enjoy them.

If there’s something that Princeton seems to be overridden with (not including ice cream shops), it’s ramen. In the past few years, ramen shops have been sprouting up like weeds (not in a bad way — more like pretty weeds with flowers on them), making it hard to decide where to go. Group options and budget prices are always a plus while at school, so here are three options that will meet those needs and beyond!

A joint investigation by Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Princeton Police Department (PPD) and University Public Safety into several arson fires on and nearby campus resulted in the arrest of two local juvenile suspects at 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9.

Almost two years ago, on June 14, 2017, former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was standing between home plate and first base on a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., when a volley of shots rang out. Seconds later, Representative Steve Scalise (R-La.) was hit in the hip. As Flake rushed to plug his colleague’s bullet wound with his baseball glove, he couldn’t help but wonder: “Why us? How could someone look out at a bunch of middle aged men playing baseball and see the enemy?”

This is the time of year when many high school seniors have to make a decision about where to go to college. As many of us know, this can be quite a difficult decision to make, particularly if a student is faced with many attractive offers. The sentiment is best expressed by a student in that position right now: post #7534 on the Tiger Confessions page is a perfect expression of the justifiable anxiety caused by this decision. Our anonymous senior writes, “Current HS senior deciding between Princeton and a few other Ivies. Leaning toward Princeton because of...the name? Because it seems like a better school? But do I think it’s a better school because of the name?…Is there really an elitist air?…” The problem is that Princeton’s social environment is often seen as exclusionary and elitist. If we truly want to attract the best and the brightest, we have a responsibility to fix this problem.

Maria Ressa ’86, the chief executive officer for Rappler, has been named Time’s Person of the Year for 2018 for her work in defending press freedom in the Philippines under the Duterte regime. In the past 14 months, she has had to post bail 11 times for charges that include tax evasion and cyber-libel. Recently, she was arrested when deboarding a plane at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.